A foreign woman came to see Annamalai Swami. While she was prostrating to him she seemed to become unconscious of her surroundings and she remained lying on the floor at his feet for about ten minutes. This was not the first time that she had fallen into this state while in Annamalai Swami’s presence.
After watching her for some time, he woke her up and told her:
You should not go into laya [a trance-like state] like this!
It is becoming a habit with you. It may give you some kind of temporary
happiness, but it is not a happiness that helps you spiritually. It is the same
as sleep. Even worldly activities are better than this laya. Get out of this
habit!
People occasionally went into states like this in front of
Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharishi. He never encouraged them, even the ones who
appeared to be in deep meditation.
I remember one occasion when Bhagavan noticed a man who had
been sitting motionless in the hall for at least an hour, apparently in a deep
meditation. Bhagavan was not fooled.
He called to Kunju Swami and others who were present, ‘Shout
at him, shake him, and when he wakes up, take him on giri pradakshina\ This is
no better than sleep. This state is not good for him. He is just wasting his
time sitting like this.’
Bhagavan warned us about this state, and he often cited stories
of sadhus who had been stuck in this state for years.
One of the most frequently told was a story about a sadhu
who asked his disciple for a glass of water. While he was waiting for the man
to return, he went into a deep laya state that persisted for many, many years.
He was in this state so long, his disciple died, the river changed its course,
and different rulers came and went.
When he opened his eyes, his first comment was, ‘Where is my
glass of water?’ Before he went into laya, this thought was uppermost in his
mind, and decades later, this thought was still there.
Bhagavan’s comment on this story was, ‘These states are not helpful.
They are not samadhi.'
Keep practising self-enquiry. This is the way to avoid laya.
The mind usually has two habits; either it is occupied with many thoughts and
engaged in activities, or it goes back to sleep. But for some people, there is
this third option, falling into this laya state. You should not indulge in it
because once it becomes a habit, it becomes addictive. It is a pleasant state
be in, but if you fall very deeply into it, it becomes very hard to get out of
it.
You know what this state is like because you have been in it
many times. As soon as you feel the first symptoms of an approaching trance,
get up and walk around. Don’t remain sitting or lying. Walk around or do some
work, and above all, keep up the practice of self-enquiry. If you practise
self-enquiry constantly, you will never find yourself falling into laya.
You can conquer this habit. You just need to be attentive
and to do self-enquiry.